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Patterns of serotonin-immunoreactive neurons in the central nervous system of the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris L.

II. Rostral and caudal ganglia

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Summary

The distribution patterns of serotonin-immunoreactive somata in the cerebral and subpharyngeal ganglion, and in the head and tail ganglia of the nerve cord of Lumbricus terrestris are described from whole-mount preparations. A small number of serotonin-immunoreactive neurons occurs in the cerebral ganglion, in contrast to the large population of serotonin-immunoreactive neurons that exists in all parts of the ventral nerve cord. From the arrangement of serotonin-immunoreactive somata in the subpharyngeal ganglion, we suggest that this ganglion arises from the fusion of two primordial ganglia. In head and tail ganglia, the distribution of serotonin-immunoreactive somata resembles that in midbody segments. Segmental variations in the pattern and number of serotonin-immunoreactive somata in the different body regions are discussed on the background of known developmental mechanisms that result in metameric neuronal populations in annelids and arthropods.

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Abbreviations

CG1, CG2 :

cerebral soma group 1, 2

CNS :

central nervous system

GINs :

giant interneurons

5-HT :

5-hydroxytryptamine, serotonin

5-HTi :

5-HT-immunoreactive

N :

side nerve

SG19 :

subpharyngeal soma group 1–9

SN :

segmental nerve

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. I. Zoologisches Institut der Universität, Abteilung für Zellbiologie, Universität Göttingen, Federal Republic of Germany

    Ulrike Spörhase-Eichmann, Heribert Gras & Friedrich-Wilhelm Schürmann

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  1. Ulrike Spörhase-Eichmann
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  2. Heribert Gras
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  3. Friedrich-Wilhelm Schürmann
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Spörhase-Eichmann, U., Gras, H. & Schürmann, FW. Patterns of serotonin-immunoreactive neurons in the central nervous system of the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris L.. Cell Tissue Res. 249, 625–632 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00217334

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